


A Happy Ending

by Josh6212



Category: Dragalia Lost (Video Game)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Multi, Polygamy, Work In Progress
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-10
Updated: 2020-07-09
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:01:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 11,774
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24639589
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Josh6212/pseuds/Josh6212
Summary: Norwin is tormented by his traumatic past, unable to write a happy ending. When he meets Orsem, who strongly resembles the troubled author's newest main character, he finds himself trapped. How can he write a tragic ending for someone he's grown close to?Update: Honestly pretty embarrassed by the quality of this; I'm practicing my writing and I intend to do a full rework of chapters 1-8 before I continue. Could be a while. Stay tuned, I guess?
Relationships: Norwin/Orsem/Apollo
Comments: 6
Kudos: 3





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> While it is not considered canon to this story, we suggest everybody read Norwin's second adventurer story to provide context on Norwin's past. You can find it here: https://dragalialost.gamepedia.com/Norwin/Stories
> 
> New chapters will be added on an irregular, but hopefully quick schedule.
> 
> Enjoy!

A brief sigh echoed through the dimly lit bedroom as Norwin hunched over his desk, ready to begin his next story. It had been a while since he last wrote, so he was getting ready for a long session. It took a while, but by now he had prepared the necessities—water, food, and other books to peruse for inspiration—and was eager to pen his next tale. This new story would be based on an idea which had struck him out of nowhere. As he began writing an outline, the tale seemed to write itself: an aspiring, overly-optimistic performer left home, eager to spread his beloved hobby far and wide. He found joy not in merely seeing others appreciate his work, but in helping them take up the art for themselves. Norwin decided to give this performing protagonist an exotic name… Jakob? No, that wouldn’t do. There were plenty of Jakobs nearby. Syrus? Korryn?

In the end, Norwin decided on Orsem, a free-spirited name he had heard thrown around the halidom. It was a name unlike that of anybody he knew, and so he found it fitting. “Orsem” was a blue-haired sylvan performer who was talented in a special type of dance, one known only to his secluded tribe. At some point in the past, his tribe who previously held great pride in their special dances began to cast away their tradition. They had been forced to live by the sword in the face of new dangers which threatened their tribe. Orsem, optimistic as ever, desperately wanted their dances to live on. He spent his days traveling the world, teaching his talent to those who showed interest. His dances were imbued with magic, granting their performer the power to do things many thought impossible, such as running on the water.

When inspiration struck, Norwin was a writing machine. He churned out page after page and in just a short few days of near-nonstop work he was already close to the end. Unfortunately, as usual, he was unable to write an ending without being reminded of his past life. He remembered the faces of his loved ones whom he had lost and doubled over, clutching his head. Fortunately, he recovered after just a moment. It was clear he would be unable to continue writing without some sort of outside stimulation, and he certainly didn’t want to continue thinking about Anasonne. Without wasting any more time, he decided to finally go off and explore the halidom he recently found himself in, hoping to find some inspiration along the way.

Norwin took a walk outside, taking in the sights of the castle and its surroundings as a way to distract himself. Around him were several ornate shrines, each adorned with spectacular displays of fire, water, and other elements. Many different races—humans, sylvans, rokkan, and even dragons—made up the crowds of a bustling cityscape...which the timid author sought to avoid. He knew his mind fared far better in quieter, more lonely areas where he could take in _natural_ beauty. As he made his way out of the crowds and approached the nearby woods, his thoughts began to wander, finally given an opportunity to breathe. Unfortunately, he was quickly interrupted by a distant “Hey!” soon followed by a hand forcefully shoved into his shoulder.

Nearly knocked to the ground, Norwin quickly turned around after regaining his balance. He saw before him a slightly taller, blue-haired sylvan, with...a trail of ice behind him? His assailant’s voice continued: “I’ve never seen you around here before!” He extended his right arm toward Norwin. “What’s your name?”

Norwin awkwardly took a few seconds before shaking the other sylvan’s hand. Despite this, he opted to act... _not_ confused, as strange as this was. “I’m...Norwin,” he said. His voice faltered as he hadn't exactly been prepared to talk to anybody.

The strange sylvan puffed his chest with pride. “I’m Orsem, and say, you look like you’ve been busy!” His posture returned to normal, and he leaned toward Norwin. “If you need a break, how about going skating with me?”

Norwin, who was too surprised to hear the name Orsem to speak, ended up taking a moment to recollect himself before responding. “Uh, right…” he stammered. “Sorry, ‘skating?’” His gaze shifted downward. “I don’t quite follow.”

“Oh, that’s okay! It’s like running on the water, but...SO much cooler!” Orsem’s body was animated, visually expressing just how “cool” this sport was. “You’re welcome to come learn all about it with me!”

“Running on the water…?” ...Huh. _What a coincidence_ , Norwin thought. By now, he was finding it difficult to maintain eye contact while he pondered the character before him: _A_ _blue-haired sylvan...named “Orsem”...who ran on water…_

“Uh, hey—” Norwin started to say without thinking. “Where exactly did you learn how to _run_ on the water?”

“My old home!” he exclaimed with a smile. “It was our tradition, and I wanna share it with everyone! So...c’mon, you in?”

Everything matched, down to the home tradition… Norwin smiled, chalking this encounter up to some strange fate. “Yeah, sure. Let’s go.”

Orsem smiled back and laughed joyfully. “All right then! Follow me!”


	2. Chapter 2

“Aaalright. Here we are!” said Orsem, gesturing toward the lake which now stood before himself and Norwin. “It’s my favorite spot!” he exclaimed before the two noticed another figure next to the water. “Oh, hey,” Orsem shouted, recognizing the man. “You’re here!”

The man was absurdly tall, with long, flowing orange hair, but he also had...horns and some sort of dragon tail? Norwin had seen a few dragons before, but was surprised to meet one who seemed so human-like. The dragon waved and strolled over toward the pair of sylvans.

“Hello,” he said, smiling. “I see you’ve found a new pupil.”

Norwin looked away slightly while Orsem nodded. “Mhm! Been a while since I found someone new. Oh! Norwin, this is Apollo. And Apollo, this is Norwin!”

“A pleasure to meet you,” said Apollo.

“Yeah, you too,” Norwin responded, slightly uneasy.

Orsem nudged Norwin’s shoulder. “Gonna be teaching him all about the basics today, so I hope you’re prepared to wait a while!”

“Of course,” Apollo responded. “No problem at all. Good luck to you, Norwin.”

“Yeah, thanks,” said Norwin, quietly. Not sure how to properly respond, he slightly bowed his head. The pair of sylvans walked to the edge of the water.

“Well, anyway,” Orsem started. “Let me just get you some blades, and—”

“Wait, _blades_?” Norwin stammered, picturing some sort of weaponry..

“Yup! Here!” Orsem pulled a pair of skating blades from his pockets and handed them to Norwin, who found them quite strange. “These things are imbued with only the FINEST ice mana, so slide ‘em onto your shoes and they’ll freeze the ground under you. Then you can skate around on it!”

“Oh. Yeah, understood...” _Guess that explains the ice_ , Norwin thought.

Norwin took the blades and started to put them on his shoes. He was able to get them attached with surprising ease; they stuck to his shoes without reason, as if a form of magic held them there. In any case, Norwin started getting up, tried standing, and…

“W-Woah!”

...started falling right down onto his back, until Orsem swiftly caught him.

“Gosh, are you all right?”

“Yes, I’m fine!” Norwin, embarrassed to have made a fool of himself, quickly scrambled to get back up. Unfortunately, the blades proved completely unwieldy to one not used to them, and the friction they produced with the ice underneath him pushed his body to the ground once more. This time, he fell forward, so Orsem couldn’t catch him.

Orsem, happy to be spreading the gift of skating to somebody completely new, shot a smile to Apollo before kneeling down to help his purple-haired pupil up. “Here,” he said, grabbing Norwin around the chest and shoulder to hoist him up. “Let me help.”

Though Norwin seemed dejected, this time he accepted the help. As Orsem’s arms reached around him, that expression changed to one that Norwin himself didn’t fully understand as his gaze shifted to the corner of his eyes. Regardless, he did his best to ignore the strange butterflies in his stomach which surprised him equally as much as the skater grabbing him did.

“I’ll keep your balance while I show you how to skate, ‘kay?”

“Sure…”

Orsem skated to the pond they were near, clutching Norwin so he wouldn’t fall. Once there, Orsem slid onto the water, which froze underneath the two, and began his instructions.

“Okay, first things first! I’m gonna start skating, so pay attention to my legs for now. You’ll have to copy how I move to get anywhere.”

Norwin nodded and attentively cast his gaze downward toward the ground and Orsem’s legs as they began to move.

“When you’re skating,” Orsem explained, “you can’t think of it like walking. You’ll have to use your legs to slide you around!” Orsem explained before starting to move. Norwin noticed not only that Orsem seemed to be moving his leg back, rather than forward, to go forward, but also that his legs seemed to naturally do the same while being held by the moving Orsem.

The instruction continued, and Norwin thought he had mostly gotten the hang of it. “Hey, Orsem,” he started. “I think I’ve got it. Mind letting me try on my own?”

Orsem’s face beamed, his excitement that Norwin was actually able to pick it up shining through. “Of course!” He slowed to a stop and loosened his grip on Norwin. “Okay, once I let go, you’ll have to make sure you don’t lose your balance. But once you’ve mastered that, just move your legs like me and off ya go!”

“Right,” said Norwin, nodding to affirm his readiness. As Orsem’s arms left his body, he found himself conflicted by thoughts he was unable to properly consider, but refused to let that shake his focus. For now, his number one priority was to not make a fool of himself. To that end, he actually managed to maintain his balance, standing upright as Orsem left him. At first, his stance was more than a bit wobbly, but he soon stood perfectly upright with no issues.

With Orsem’s encouragement, he began to move his legs. Just like that, he was off...slowly. He managed to maneuver himself around the outer edge of the water at a meager pace—so slow, in fact, that Orsem managed to lap him ten times in the time it took him to circle the lake once—by carefully shifting his legs and propelling his body forward. His movements were clumsy and certainly lacked grace, but since it moved his body and kept him from falling, he paid that no mind.

“I did it!” he exclaimed while Orsem shouted words of encouragement from the other side of the water.

Unfortunately, Norwin didn’t know how to properly stop, and he certainly didn’t want to just stand around for some time. He aimed himself toward land and managed to turn around, crashing into solid ground in an effective-but-rough maneuver. The spot Norwin ended up in happened to be close to where Apollo was spectating, but Norwin paid that no mind. Finally having a moment to himself, his thoughts drifted on their own...and once again replayed the terrible sights he saw back home in Anasonne. Slowly, his awareness of the world around him started to drown out...

Apollo looked over at Norwin, and saw this written all over his face. Unsure of what was wrong, but wanting to cheer him up, the tall dragon smiled and softly said, "Good job.” Norwin, realizing Apollo was watching, snapped out of it, rubbing the back of his neck while quietly muttering his thanks.

Orsem made his way over and skillfully stopped in front of Norwin, standing still on the ice. “So…? How’d ya like it?”

Norwin closed his eyes for a moment, but managed to smile before looking back up at Orsem. “Well, it was certainly a fun distraction.” He carefully slid the blades off of his shoes and offered them up to Orsem. “Want ‘em back?”

“Actually, you should keep ‘em. I’ve got CRATELOADS! Plus, you need more practice, so we’ll be back at it. How about tomorrow?”

“Ah… Right. Sure.”

“Great!” Orsem said, beginning to take his blades off as well. “Well, be seeing ya!”

“Of course. I'll be seeing you...”

Norwin’s gaze followed Orsem as he walked past the purple sylvan to join up with Apollo. Together, the two walked off.

“Your teaching has certainly improved,” said Apollo.

“C’mon, we all gotta start somewhere!”

Norwin averted his eyes as the couple joined hands. Before long, he was left alone with no company but the lake before him as he pondered the strange seeds of emotion that had been planted in him.


	3. Chapter 3

After Norwin’s impromptu skating lesson was over, Orsem and Apollo left and headed toward Orsem's room. Like always, they made small talk with one another, but it didn’t take long before the conversation turned to Orsem’s new friend.

“I’d like to ask you about Norwin,” Apollo started, bringing the purple sylvan up out of the blue. “I have not seen him before. Where did you meet him?”

“Oh, I hadn’t seen him at all until today either!” Orsem responded. “Maybe he’s new here? Euden’s always inviting people to stick around, and all. But anyway, I found him while I was on my way to meet up with you, and invited him to a lesson!”

Apollo smiled. “True. And I see.”

“Oh, and thanks for coming to watch!”

“Of course. I’m always happy to.”

The two smiled at each other, but had little to say to continue that exchange; fortunately, just a moment later, Apollo changed the subject.

“Orsem, did you notice anything strange about him?”

“Huh? You mean Norwin? Well, um…”

Orsem spent a few seconds thinking about all his interactions with Norwin, but could only think of his new friend as an ordinary guy. He didn’t seem too much different from anybody else. “No, I guess not,” he said. “I mean, maybe it was weird that he was off on his own when I saw him. Plus, like I said, never seen the guy before. But that’s all pretty normal here.”

“I see. Perhaps I got the wrong idea.”

“Whatcha mean?”

Apollo considered his words before responding, not certain how to phrase his thoughts. “When he sat down, after the two of you were done... I don’t think he knew anybody was looking. But I glanced at him, and it seemed as though he was lost in his own thoughts. He looked quite sad.”

“Oh. huh.” Orsem scratched his head, surprised to hear something like that. “Sorry, guess I don’t pay enough attention to notice that sorta stuff.”

“There’s nothing to apologize for. But still…” Apollo sighed before continuing. “While I hope I got the wrong idea, I’d at least like to be sure of that. You planned to take him skating again tomorrow, right?”

“Yep!”

Apollo smiled. “Okay. Then that’s that for now. Oh, and allow me to emphasize what I told you earlier. You’ve improved a great deal at teaching! Norwin will be a star skater thanks to you.”

Orsem laughed, his ears twitching with glee as he smiled and tightened his grip on Apollo’s hand. Before long, the two were finally to Orsem's room, where they parted ways for the night.

* * *

A few minutes later, Norwin was closing in on his own small residence. While he was glad today had happened, he had been expecting a nice, _lonely_ stroll, alone with his thoughts. And just why was everything so strange to him…? Norwin hardly understood why his stomach seemed to sink when Orsem grabbed him. That on its own was enough to bother him, let alone the fact that Orsem so closely reflected that new story he was writing. In short, the sylvan had a lot to ponder.

Of course, now that Norwin was back in his room, any plans to take a mental break quickly went to the back of his head. As he finally walked through his door, refreshed after his break, he decided it was writing time! Unfortunately, as he sat down at his desk once more and put a pen in his hand, it became clear that words were the _last_ thing his mind was going to be able to produce.

Norwin put his pen down and hunched forward, propping up his head with his hands that were held steady by his elbow planted firmly into the desk. As he read his work, he found himself unable to focus. _Orsem this, Orsem that._ Why was he so perfectly able to recount somebody else’s life?

Of course, Norwin thought it might not be _perfect_. After all, he hardly knew the guy. There must have been an incomprehensible number of things he had gotten wrong, or missed, about Orsem’s life. In fact, there was one detail Norwin knew he didn’t include. Orsem’s boyfriend, or so it seemed, Apollo. Norwin hadn’t written anything like that, and so he felt relieved. This meant the idea of his creation coming to life was out the window…

Regardless, it was still beyond strange. And that wasn’t the only oddity Norwin experienced today. Just what was that sinking feeling he felt when Orsem grabbed him? In that moment it was as if...Orsem was the only thing he was even _noticing_...and certainly nothing like that had ever—

Without warning, Norwin’s train of thought suddenly and violently veered to replay the cruelties he witnessed in his war-torn home. His hands convulsed and slid out from his head, causing his body to crash forward until he caught himself. He began hyperventilating for a brief moment, but fortunately was able to calm down in just ten seconds or so. His thought process lost, he shook it off and sighed. Knowing he wasn’t going to get any writing done, he retired to bed early, slowly drifting to sleep while thinking of all the strangeness the day had brought...


	4. Chapter 4

After resting for several hours, Norwin woke up. He was still exhausted despite having just slept for what must have been at least ten hours; even though he retired to sleep relatively early, sunlight was shining through his window bright as ever. Norwin scratched the back of his head for a moment before getting out of bed. He left to get food and brought it home, then sat right down at his desk. Despite everything that happened yesterday, he was ready to start off with a fresh slate.

Unfortunately, things proved more difficult than that. Writer’s block still struck him despite his efforts to overcome it. Try as he would, he was once again unable to write even a single word. As he tried pondering how to close the fictional Orsem’s tale, he could only think of the real one. By now, Norwin was frustrated not only at himself, but also at the strange circumstance he had been thrown into; one that even hindered his ability to write. Wanting nothing more than to continue his story, he got out a new piece of paper to scribble ideas upon.

Norwin wrote some sentences down, something he could at least be proud of, but still nothing clicked. Even though he had written a few ideas, they weren’t...endings. Everything on this paper was simply a vague happening that could, _perhaps_ , continue the story for about two pages and nothing more. Norwin crumpled the paper and sighed, throwing his weight back into his chair. He tried thinking of some tragic ways for the story to end, and yet, for some reason, he didn’t want to see tragedy befall his main character… And so, Norwin tried thinking of a happy end to the tale; however, as always, this dragged his thoughts straight to Anasonne. After recovering, he put the lid on that idea.

By now, it had been hours with no progress. Defeated, Norwin gave up and lazily laid back down in his bed. The cushioned bed was certainly more comfortable than his chair, and the author was beyond exhausted. Perhaps it was time for a nap... He closed his eyes, slowly drifting—

**_Knock, knock, knock._ **

His eyes shot right back open. _Who could that be_ , he thought. Even though it was probably midday by now, Norwin still thought it was too early for visitors. He quickly got up and opened the door, revealing Orsem beyond it.

“Hiya! You ready for your next lesson?”

“Oh, uh…” Norwin looked away and scratched his neck. With his head occupied both by his story and by his past, he had forgotten that he agreed to go skating again today. Fortunately, it wasn’t as though he had anything better to be doing. “Yes, I certainly am! Let’s go.”

“Alright! Oh, and remember to grab your blades,” Orsem reminded Norwin. Indeed, Norwin had left them behind, so he awkwardly walked back to an end table near his bed to grab them before leaving.

“So,” Orsem started, trying to make small talk on their way to the lake. “Never saw you around ‘til yesterday! How long have you been here?”

Norwin was surprised to hear Orsem ask so directly, but he had no choice but to make conversation. “I think it’s only been a mere few weeks. I asked Euden for a place to stay.”

“Mhm. Same here!” Orsem smiled. “So, what exactly do you do?”

“I’m an author, I suppose. I usually write storybooks for children.”

Their little chat continued until they reached the lake. Norwin was able to talk casually with his friend, despite usually being inept at such things.

Finally, they arrived. Norwin looked around, but didn’t see anybody else—no Apollo, of course. This time, it was just him and Orsem. They put their blades on and Orsem began the lesson, having Norwin warm up with some stretching exercises.

His instruction continued, picking up where he left off the day before. “Now, if you learn how to keep your balance,” Orsem explained, “you’ll be able to go fast, like me! Oh, plus there’s this certain stance you gotta keep! Here, watch.” Orsem skated around, his body in a slight squat leaned quite a bit forward. The ideal skating stance, it seemed. Norwin tried to replicate this, and while he was still far from a pro, he seemed to have already improved.

After the warmups were done, Orsem started urging Norwin to get onto the water; however, Norwin was pretty concerned. “Orsem, these work on the ground, don’t they?” Norwin asked. “Perhaps I could practice here instead? I hardly want to fall into the lake…”

“Oh, sure! It’s pretty much the same thing, so that’s fine! Someone else I taught before you wanted to do the same.”

At Norwin’s request, the two practiced on the surface this time. Before long, Norwin got too confident, pushing himself too hard and falling. He would have gotten soaked had they been on the water, just as he worried. Thankfully, Orsem was quickly at Norwin’s side as he laid on the ground, struggling to recover thanks to the slippery blades attached to his shoes and the chunk of ice under his body. The blue sylvan knelt down to help Norwin up, just as he did the day before. When Orsem grabbed him, Norwin...felt that strange sensation again. His stomach fluttered and he felt lightheaded. Once he was back on his feet, he was too distracted to even say thank you; fortunately, Orsem paid it no mind and simply encouraged Norwin to keep it up before skating ahead.

For the rest of the lesson, Norwin was feeling out of it. He did his best to pay attention, and he certainly didn’t stop skating, but any new tips went in one ear and out the other as he found himself lost considering the meaning of his own thoughts yet again. He was so confused it was as if he wasn’t actually privy to whatever his mind was processing.

It didn’t take too long before Orsem noticed that Norwin suddenly seemed down, and he remembered what Apollo had said the day before. He was slightly dejected, but decided it best to cut the lesson short.

“Hey, Norwin,” he said. “I think we’ve been at it long enough. What say we call it quits for today?”

The question snapped Norwin back to reality. “Oh, m-my apologies. Hm…”

“There’s nothing to apologize for. You did GREAT!” Orsem exclaimed, smiling. “But, that’s all for today. I’ve gotta get back home.”

Norwin nodded and removed his blades. “Orsem, if I may,” he said. For some reason, he felt a strong urge to ask something that was on his mind: “You seem rather dedicated to teaching me. Might I ask why?”

“Oh, well, it’s not so much like that. I’d love to teach anyone! Plus, you’re eager to learn, and Apollo said I should stick around you. It works out!”

“I see…” Norwin quietly responded. His heart...sank. First of all, for some reason, he felt disappointed by that answer? It seemed that, to Orsem, anybody would do. Second, why had Apollo said something like that? Norwin immediately regretted asking. Now he simply had more bizarre happenings to worry about.

“Well,” Norwin began. “Thank you for the lesson. Again.” He turned around, beginning to walk back to his quarters. “Have a good night, my friend.”

Orsem smiled. “Of course! And you too!”

* * *

Norwin walked back to his quarters with only the ambience of the woods to keep him company. His mind seemed simultaneously empty and crowded, and he didn’t actually consider any of his thoughts while on the way back despite his head being full of them. Once inside, he didn’t bother sitting at his desk. Knowing he was in no place to write, he simply grabbed a random book from his shelf to distract himself and laid in his bed. After getting cozy, he opened it and started to read.

The book he chose was a romance novel which had been gifted to him by Philia a week prior. In that story, the main character...felt his heart sink while around his love interest. His head was filled with strange thoughts, many of which he didn’t understand. By the fiftieth page or so, Norwin was hardly reading anymore. His eyes just made the motions while his brain power was spent elsewhere.

No longer even trying to pay attention to the story, Norwin thought about what he just read. Why was this story so accurately speaking to the strange feelings he had been dealing with for the past day? Perhaps it was just a coincidence. Or perhaps these sorts of things were normal in everybody, and Norwin had only just felt it for the first time. Or perhaps he was in love…

Norwin shut the book and closed his eyes tight. Then, he scoffed and tossed it aside. That was exactly it. Norwin was in love with Orsem. His body shook with an anger that could only be directed at himself. Why did he have to fall in love with somebody who already had a boyfriend? With somebody he had only even known for a _day_ ? No… That wasn’t right. Norwin felt like he knew Orsem personally. After all, he just wrote his entire life story, right? No, _that_ wasn’t right. Norwin shook his head. Obviously, the fake Orsem and the Orsem he knew weren’t the same. And yet, even though he said as much to himself, he was unable to accept that. Still, no matter the reason, such a thing was cruel to Norwin who was already suffering enough. Orsem and Apollo were together. Orsem definitely didn’t love him back. Now, Norwin was cursed to care about somebody who would never share his feelings. Actually, why did it have to happen now? Norwin had never felt that type of love before now. Why couldn’t that have...

After a while of thinking about love, Norwin had flashbacks to the young royal he once served—their corpses strewn before him as he made his escape…

His body lurched forward. His hand moved to clutch his head, but he froze before it made contact. For a moment, his body was stuck, leaning forward with his arm in the middle of the air. His hand slightly convulsed as his gaze shook and, for the first time in months, tears welled up in his eyes. It didn’t take long for him to recover, but he wasn’t the same. He slowly leaned back until he was laying down again, a pillow under his head, and cried, wistfully hoping it might drift him off to sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After publishing chapter 4, we decided to ret-con a small detail. I have edited the previous chapters, but for your convenience: Orsem and Apollo live separately. Housing in the halidom (for the humans, sylvans, etc.) is akin to a dorm system. Norwin lives alone, but Orsem has a roommate (who we'll see later!)
> 
> Also, improvements have been made to Norwin's dialogue in chapters 1-4, and all future dialogue is being written with these changes in mind.
> 
> Enjoy!

As Norwin walked away after his second lesson was over, Orsem felt somewhat disappointed. He had so much more to teach him, but Norwin seemed completely out of it. Maybe Apollo was right—could there be something wrong with him? He looked up to the sky. Sunset wouldn’t be for a few more hours, meaning he had plenty of time to find his partner. Fortunately, that didn’t take long.

“Hey, there you are!” he exclaimed across a field before rushing to Apollo’s side.

“Orsem! You’re done early. I was just about to go off to the lake to find you.”

“Oh, yeah,” Orsem remembered. “You wanted to find everyone else, right? Uh, sorry about that.”

“No need to apologize,” insisted Apollo. “I only meant to speak with the others tonight. We’ll get a time set and have a real meeting in a few days.”

“Yeah! It’ll take a while, but we’ll get it just right next time! They’ll be strong enough that you don’t just melt ‘em, then we can zoom around together all we want!”

“But not so strong that they freeze my legs again, please.”

Orsem laughed. “We’ll see!”

For the past few weeks, Orsem had been joined by Sophie, Lily, and Rena in his endeavor to create a pair of blades that would work for his boyfriend. Apollo’s innate fire mana was far too strong for Orsem’s regular stock of ice skates, which he had accidentally melted a large chunk of in the past. Orsem needed a great deal of assistance in channeling enough ice mana into the small blades to counteract such powerful flame. Naturally, he turned to Lily. Rena became involved when they realized they needed the extra help. As a blacksmith, she was far more experienced at imbuing mana into metals in a much more efficient manner than the others could hope to achieve alone. Sophie caught wind of their plans and insisted on tagging along for her research; fortunately, she proved helpful with her ability to measure the mana in each pair. They were a truly perfect team—clearly, that was why they had accomplished nothing but failure so far.

During their last meeting, they had a breakthrough. They actually managed to create a pair of blades that were _too_ strong, freezing even Apollo’s legs the instant he put them on. The dragon shuddered thinking of what might happen if anybody “normal” tried to wear them. Regardless, now the team had whittled down how much mana was needed. It seemed their next try would be a success for sure. Apollo and Orsem met with everybody else, and they decided to finish the job in two days, as Rena and the others would be busy until then.

Finally, it was time for the couple to sit down by a tree, and watch the sunset…

“Norwin was acting weird today,” Orsem said out of nowhere. “Just like you said.”

“Hm?”

“All of a sudden, he seemed out of it. I think he stopped listening to me. I called off the lesson early ‘cause of that, even though I still had a whole bunch to teach him.”

“I see.”

“...I hope he’s okay.”

“Indeed…” Apollo paused a moment. “I’ll go and visit him in the morning.”

“Oh, well alright. Hey, while you’re there, tell him to meet me, hm... Right at midday in two days for another lesson! We’ll go over some more stuff before finishing up those blades for you.”

Apollo smiled. “Of course.”

Their conversation about Norwin over, Orsem and Apollo eagerly watched dusk turn to night and fell asleep together under the stars.

* * *

The next morning, Norwin was thoughtlessly lying in bed. He had gotten little sleep overnight and now he was an unkempt mess. While he wasn’t in bad shape quite like he was the night before, he hardly felt okay.

For the second day in a row, a knock on his door woke him up from being totally spaced out. This time it was rather early, wasn’t it? Norwin didn’t really know what time it was, but he couldn’t have been lying in his bed _that_ long.

He didn’t want to answer, but what if it was Orsem? When his thoughts made their way there, he immediately got up and went to the door. As he opened it...Apollo stood before him.

“Good morning,” Apollo said.

“Oh, hello. Good morning.”

For some reason, Norwin didn’t want to look at Apollo.

“I’d like to talk.”

“Well, certainly.”

Norwin awkwardly stood inside for just a moment until he realized Apollo was too big to fit in his room. Embarrassed, he stepped outside so they could talk. As he stepped outside, Apollo happened to look through the door and noticed a book haphazardly lying face down on the floor. He didn’t intend to mention it, but Norwin realized what he was looking at by following his gaze inside.

“Oh!” he said, closing the door. Once he was outside, he noticed that, without Orsem around, the sheer difference in height between himself and Apollo was rather intimidating; however, he soon shook it off and reassured his guest. “Please don’t pay any mind to that. Like I said, we can talk. What’s on your mind?”

“First, Orsem wants you to meet him at midday tomorrow for another lesson. Second...” Apollo took a moment before continuing to speak, but he was very direct. “Norwin, I must admit I am concerned for you. I’ve been around for a long time, and I recognize the look I saw on your face the other day. And yesterday, Orsem told me he cut your lesson short for the same reason.”

Norwin silently looked away. He was...shocked and upset that Apollo had picked up on that. Realizing his guest was waiting, he spoke. 

“Uh, that’s certainly quite kind of you… But, I’m, er—I’m fine.” He made eye contact… “Really.” ...before being forced to drop his gaze after just one word.

“I’m not convinced,” said Apollo. “But…” He struggled to make a decision for a moment, then sighed. “I won’t pry if that’s what you insist.”

“Yeah! I’m really okay. Just been having a, er, bad week, I suppose. But that’s nothing.” He tilted his head before looking back to Apollo. “Oh, but thanks for your concern.”

Apollo shifted his balance, getting ready to leave. He was disappointed that the conversation was so short, but he truly didn’t want to pry just yet. He decided to say just one more thing.

“Of course. And, Norwin. You’re Orsem’s and my own friend. I will be away most nights, but I’m certain Orsem wouldn’t mind a visit at any time. Or, if you find me, I’m happy to chat. Please feel free.”

“Oh, sure…”

“Have a good day, Norwin.”

“Y-You too.”

With this, Apollo left. Norwin went back inside and sat on the edge of his bed. As was normal by now, he didn’t have a clue how to feel. He was upset at himself for letting others see his pain, if only slightly. More than that, he was bothered that he worried Orsem. For a while, he wallowed in his own pity. Eventually, though, he realized exactly what Apollo’s words meant. Why did the guy seem to care so much? He certainly had no reason to. And yet...there he was, offering to give Norwin a hand.

What was it he said? _You can visit Orsem or me any time_ . There was no reason to turn down such an offer. _Perhaps I should_ , Norwin thought...


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dual release this time! :)
> 
> Yes, chapter count doubled. New plans! It'll turn out much better than it would have.

For a while, Norwin thought happily about visiting Orsem. Unfortunately, he soon realized that if Apollo was out and about, so too was his friend. Unsure where he might be, Norwin decided to wait until that night to give him a visit. In the meantime, Norwin decided to sit down and write; unfortunately, his inability to pen a single word in Orsem’s tale persisted. He sighed and decided to temporarily start a new story, one with a clean slate so he could at least write  _ something _ . He noticed that he had grown tired of being cooped up in his room for the past few weeks, having been outside recently. He packed up his materials to take with him and meandered outside to find a comfortable tree to sit under.

Before long, he found the perfect spot. He happily sat down, pulled out a hard surface alongside his paper and writing utensils from his bag, and started drafting. Finally, words flowed naturally from his hand as they used to. He happily wrote the tale of a friendly sylvan noble. Somewhat naive, this character longed for the day he would rise to the top and thus use his position to spread happiness and equity. The story was rather generic, but it was a story nonetheless.

For hours and hours, Norwin wrote like a machine. After creating an outline, he immediately got work writing chapter after chapter after chapter. Finally, the day was turning to evening, and as he finally got to his planned ending, wherein an assassin would lace his protagonist’s food with poison...his pen stopped. Frustrated, he failed to understand why this was happening again. He’d always had issues writing endings, but until now he was at least  _ able _ to do it. He thought of Orsem. But why?

He retrieved an old book of his from his bag. Then another. And another. He re-read his old stories for inspiration for a short while. Unfortunately, it didn’t help. He was unable to continue writing. Before long, he chose to take a break altogether. Now his mind was free to wander.

What was up with Orsem, anyway? The night before, Norwin realized he was in love with him. He felt angry with himself. He was frustrated not only that he had developed a love that would be forever unrequited, but also that he had unwittingly transformed his friendship into more than it really was. Norwin realized that all of his emotional troubles the past few days revolved around Orsem; and yet, thinking about Orsem offered the solace he needed to get over his thoughts about Orsem. Perhaps it would have been best had the two not met. Norwin would have written his tale of the fictional Orsem like nothing happened, and the real Orsem would never have unknowingly become the center of some random, useless author’s emotional turmoil.

Norwin’s eyes refocused. He noticed that the day was turning to dusk. He was happy that he managed to distract himself with his writing and would soon visit Orsem. Thinking eagerly about his impending visit, he discarded the negative thoughts he had just felt.

...Unfortunately, he soon realized he didn’t know exactly where Orsem was staying in the halidom despite both Orsem and Apollo knowing where Norwin resided. Thankfully, it mattered little as he asked around and soon made his way to Orsem’s. After tidying himself up, he gave the door a knock, but he didn’t see Orsem when it opened. Instead, a brown-haired young man—a human—answered it.

“Woah, hey there. Uh, can I help you?” he asked.

“Oh! M-My apologies, friend,” Norwin answered. “I must have the wrong place. I was looking for Orsem, if you know where he stays.”

“That’s me!” A familiar voice responded from the back. The man who greeted the door turned, and behind him, Norwin saw Orsem looking to the door from his desk. “Oh, hey Norwin!”

Norwin was happy to see him. “Good evening!”

Orsem stood and walked to the door. At the same time, the other man introduced himself to Norwin. “Name’s Luther,” he said. “Nice to meetcha!”

Norwin nodded slightly. “I suppose you just heard it, but I’m Norwin. It’s nice to meet you, too.”

“So,” interrupted Orsem. “Whatcha need?”

Only now did Norwin realize he didn’t actually have anything to discuss. “Um…” he droned, trying to buy time. “Oh, I’d just like to confirm our lesson tomorrow. Apollo said you wanted to meet early tomorrow. Is that right?"

"Mhm! Apollo and I have plans for later tomorrow is why."

"...Right."

"Hey, c'mon! You make all these plans to go skating, but we still don't have any idea when our next dance lesson will be," Luther teased.

"Oh, you're a dancer...?"

"Sure am! Wanna see my moves?"

"Luther, it's WAY too cramped in here," Orsem interjected. "Don’t you remember what happened last time?"

"I don't remember asking for your opinion!"

Orsem and Luther laughed with each other while Norwin snickered too.

“Well,” Norwin began. “That’s all I wanted to confirm. It’s late now, so my apologies for bothering you. I’ll see you tomorrow. Early.” He turned to walk out the door.

“Yeah, see ya then! Have a good night.”

Norwin smiled as he left. “Thank you. You sleep well too.” After saying this, he shut the door.

The interaction was short, and frankly Norwin realized he had no reason to have bothered both Orsem  _ and _ Luther. Regardless, it made him happy. That smile refused to leave his face as he wandered back to his room.


	7. Chapter 7

The next morning, Norwin made sure to wake up early. Remembering how he enjoyed writing the day prior, he sat down to do just that. The endeavor ended exactly as it had so many times before. After recovering, he decided to step outside. Perhaps, he thought, he could head out early and get some sketching in while waiting for Orsem. He grabbed his materials, some writing and coloring utensils as well as his blades, and packed them into his bag which hadn’t been emptied since returning home.

He walked over to the lake where he and Orsem had been practicing. After finding a nice spot to sit down, he pulled out some paper and a surface to write on then got to drawing. For some time, he felt happy. While drawing he thought about his upcoming lesson and, as a result, the figure in his sketch resembled Orsem.

Finally, roughly an hour after he sat down, Norwin heard a shout from the distance.

“Hey!”

As he looked up, Orsem was skating toward him. Norwin waved, then stuffed his materials back into his bag and grabbed his blades from it before walking forward without it.

Norwin smiled as Orsem made his way to him. “Good morning, Orsem!” he said.

“Hey, good morning!” Orsem replied. “Got your blades?”

Norwin showed them. “Right here.”

“Great! Then let’s get right to it.”

Once again, Orsem taught Norwin about the ins and outs of skating. He directed Norwin through some stretching exercises and then lectured him on the proper skating position. Norwin practiced keeping his balance while hunching forward and slowly but surely his stance was improving.

“Hey Norwin,” said Orsem. “You’re doin’ pretty great!”

“Oh! Thank you. It’s certainly easier now.”

“Yeah! Your stance is near-perfect already. Wanna get to some more advanced stuff?”

Norwin paused. He enjoyed skating with Orsem, but was far from confident in his skill. He merely happened to have the stance down. Still, he didn’t want to disappoint his friend.

“Sure. Let’s give it a try.”

“Okay, awesome! Then let me introduce you to the wonderful world of figure skating!” Orsem puffed out his chest with his fists planted on his hips. “There’s a whole buncha cool moves you can pull off while skating! Here, watch me for a sec.”

Norwin paid attention as Orsem dashed away. Eventually, the skater turned...and rushed forward, skating at full speed! Once Orsem had enough momentum, he stopped focusing on pushing himself. As he passed Norwin, his legs moved in a precise pattern which propelled his body forward. He leapt into the air, spun his body around, and seamlessly landed with his momentum intact. He continued forward, then turned back around. This time, he effortlessly assumed a graceful pose, hunching his body forward and holding his right leg back as only his left foot supported the weight of his body. Even still, he continued at full speed.

Norwin was entranced, but also terrified about what Orsem might have him do.

Orsem casually skated back to where Norwin stood. “How was that?”

“That was...amazing,” Norwin answered. “But, I don’t think I can do any of that just yet.”

“Aw, c’mon! It’ll be fine! We’ll just focus on some neat poses you can do for now. Plus, I’ll help make sure ya don’t fall.” He extended an arm toward Norwin. “You in?”

Norwin slowly nodded, then grabbed his hand. Immediately, Orsem started skating, pulling his timid friend along for the ride.

As they both got up to speed, Orsem let go of Norwin’s hand. “Alright,” he started. He slowed himself until he was just behind Norwin, and then grabbed him on the back to support him from behind. Norwin considered himself lucky that his embarrassed face was facing away from Orsem. “I got ya, so don’t worry about falling. Let’s start simple for now. How about you try to keep your balance on one leg?”

Norwin was silent, but he did as Orsem suggested. He raised one leg while keeping the other pressed to the ground and managed to keep his balance somewhat steady.

“Okay, now try to move your body down. Bend your leg!”

Again, Norwin did as he was asked. It was too much for him this time, and he began to fall forward. Both he and Orsem shouted in surprise, but soon Orsem caught him. His hands wrapped around Norwin as though he was hugging him from behind…

“H-Hey,” Norwin stammered as he regained his balance. “I-I, uh…”

The two stopped skating. “Hm? What’s up?”

Norwin’s mind was a mess. A “hug” from Orsem...was cruel. And yet he was forced to piece together a reason to excuse himself.

“I-I just remembered!” he shouted out of nowhere. “I was assigned for a patrol with, I believe it was Alex, and Orion, and somebody else… My apologies, but I must be off early.” Norwin hurriedly began removing the blades from his feet.

“Oh. I could have sworn Ranzal was leading patrol today,” Orsem objected. Norwin froze up, not responding, so Orsem decided against pushing the point further. “But that’s okay. Um, good luck!”

“Thank you… I’ll see you again soon.”

“Yeah. Whenever you’re free!”

Without another word, Norwin walked away. His face was turned away from Orsem who was unable to see his eyes watering up. Orsem watched Norwin disappear, disappointed that their lesson was cut short once again. Once his friend was gone, he casually looked around, not certain what to do. To his left, he saw a bag he hadn’t seen before. Perhaps it was Norwin’s?

...Against his better judgment, Orsem took a look inside. He knew it was hardly his place, but he wanted to help his friend and was desperate for something that might tell him what was up. He looked inside. There were a few books as well as some pencils and miscellaneous scraps of paper. Didn’t Norwin say he was an author…?

Orsem felt bad snooping, but he decided to read one of the books he found in the bag. He read the first few pages, and began to skim the rest. It was wonderfully-written; clearly his friend had talent. But then, he turned the page, and suddenly the tale took a 180-degree turn. Almost out of nowhere, main characters were being killed left and right. Orsem skimmed his other books. The story was the same. Finally, he looked through the scraps of paper. There were some random doodles, but the most detailed one seemed to resemble Orsem himself. Strange.

Unsure what to make of all this, Orsem packed everything back into the bag and decided to return it to Norwin. He didn’t believe his friend actually had patrol duty, and so he made his way to Norwin’s room.

Meanwhile, Norwin was having a hard time with his feelings. To put it bluntly, he hated himself for loving Orsem and therefore subjecting himself to further pain as if he weren’t already dealing with enough.

There was a knock on his door. He was getting visitors daily, it seemed. In no state to entertain company, he simply responded, “My apologies. I’m busy.”

“Hey, it’s me, Orsem. You left your bag, so I brought it back.”

When he heard Orsem’s voice, he immediately opened the door.

“Oh… Th-Thank you.”

Norwin’s gaze was pointed directly to the ground. His hood was on, and at this angle, it obscured his face from view.

“Here you are,” said Orsem. He handed Norwin the bag, and couldn’t help but notice that Norwin’s hand was trembling as he accepted it. “...You okay?”

Norwin took a moment to respond. “O-Of course,” he said, still not looking up.

In the end, Orsem was clueless about all this stuff. He wouldn’t have picked up on anything if Apollo hadn’t told him. On top of that, he hardly knew where to begin with assisting somebody in times like these. But still, he felt the urge to comfort his friend.

“Apollo says you’ve been hurting a lot. Do you want to talk about it?”

Norwin stood still, not responding. Not moving. Orsem pitied him. He thought about everything Apollo had told him, and instinctively decided to hug his friend. Norwin shook slightly, but soon began to softly cry into Orsem’s shoulder. To Orsem, Norwin's tears just meant he was sad. He was oblivious to the painful, confusing emotions that he had sprung upon his friend from something so simple as a hug.

“Let’s sit down.” Orsem offered. Norwin nodded. Orsem shut the door behind them as they made their way to the edge of Norwin’s bed where they sat in silence for a moment. Understanding the severity of the situation but not sure what to do, Orsem spoke first. “I’ll listen to anything you have to say,” he said. “Uh, if you want, I mean.”

To Norwin, all this was nothing short of bizarre. He had never considered speaking of these matters to anybody before. If anybody else were pushing this, he would certainly refuse; and yet, because it was Orsem, he felt compelled to confess.

After another moment, Norwin spoke. “I’ve never told anybody. Please, keep it between you and me.”

“Of course!” Orsem agreed. “I promise.”

“Mm. W-Well…”

Norwin could hardly believe what he was about to do. He had gone five years without saying a word of it to anyone...why did he break now? 

“A long time ago,” he began. “I lived in a kingdom called… W-Well, it was up north, in Grastaea. I worked as an entertainer. A storyteller.” He softly smiled. “I’ve always loved writing. and drawing. Especially to entertain children! Everybody at home was like a family to me. But…” His smile faded. “One day. Some five years ago now.”

Norwin was cutting corners everywhere he could. He skipped over discussing exactly what happened. “I think...I’m the only person who made it out alive,” he continued. He slowly grew uncomfortable, and his body began to tremble. Why was he saying all of this? Even he hardly knew. After years, this was the first time he spoke of this in detail. Still, he continued pushing himself and began to tremble greatly.

“I just hid myself away,” he confessed. “If I weren’t a coward, couldn’t I have saved everyone…?”

Now, Norwin was shaking. Orsem put his hand onto Norwin’s chest to help stabilize him. When he was ready to speak some more, Norwin once again skipped ahead.

“I haven’t been able to write a happy story since then,” he said. “My mind just shows me visions of what happened whenever I try. Sometimes that happens randomly.” He thought about the story he was working on. “But now, I…” he weakly stammered before shutting himself up.

Now that Norwin had laid everything out, it all seemed pathetic. Why couldn’t he just accept that everything had happened and be grateful that his gift of life was kept intact? Anybody with just a little bit of strength and fortitude would press on. But Norwin was weak. He was weak and stuck in the past. So weak that now he was dredging up all of his past trauma because he could hardly deal with feelings he shouldn’t have developed for some guy he hardly knew.

"...Want me to hug you again?" Orsem asked after Norwin’s piece was done.

Norwin closed his eyes to hold back the tears. He knew he shouldn't want that. His love for Orsem would only hurt him. His love for the guy whom would never love him back, whom already had a boyfriend, whom he had only met days ago, whom was likely only his friend out of pity, and whom was certainly only comforting him because Apollo had told him to, would only drive him deeper and deeper into the despair he already spent half a decade wallowing in.

He softly nodded. Tears flowed from his eyes as Orsem comforted him.

“I’m sorry you’ve been through all this stuff…” said Orsem. “I can hardly imagine it myself.”

Norwin stayed quiet. Orsem decided he would have to cheer him up.

“But hey,” he began. “You made your way here! This halidom is pretty safe, with Euden in charge and all. So, let’s give you some happy memories instead!”

Confused, Norwin looked to Orsem.

“You’re already friends with me and Apollo, plus there’s all sorts ‘a cool people here! So, um, I’ll do some fun stuff with you! And help you make new friends, too!”

Orsem smiled. Norwin closed his eyes again.

“Oh! In fact, how about you join me and Apollo tonight? We’re gonna go meet up with some pals and make some skates! That’ll be in an hour or two, if you’re ready by then.”

Norwin thought for a moment. He knew he was too pathetic for a proposal like that to do anything but hurt him in the end; however, it sounded quite nice. 

“Certainly,” Norwin said weakly. “That sounds...great.”

“Great! I can’t wait to introduce you to everyone!”

Orsem stayed in Norwin’s room, helping to comfort him until it was time to go.


	8. Chapter 8

After spending roughly another hour together, Norwin and Orsem strolled outside. Orsem directed Norwin toward the meeting place his friends had set up. As they approached, Apollo’s sheer size made him stand out like a sore thumb in the distance; however, there were three smaller figures he didn’t recognize. When they saw the two sylvans, everybody waved hello. Orsem eagerly waved back while Norwin timidly raised his hand for a moment.

As they continued approaching everybody, Norwin’s view of the scene grew clearer. Aside from Apollo, there were three girls; a tall woman with flowing pink hair, a younger woman with short brown hair, and a child with long ice-blue hair; just like Orsem’s, if a bit lighter. Behind those three was a table with elegant decorations atop it and chairs surrounding it...and next to it, a box?

“Hey guys!” Orsem shouted, interrupting Norwin’s observation. “Sorry I’m late. Oh, but I brought a friend to hang out!” He moved aside. “Meet my new pal Norwin.” Apollo cocked his head for a moment, but smiled and said hello before the girls introduced themselves.

“How nice to meet you. I’m Rena.”

“Nice to meet you too.”

“I’m Sophie! What brings you here?”

“Oh, Orsem simply invited me to tag along…”

“Hiya, mister!” Lily extended her hand in greeting. “My name’s Lily.”

Norwin shook Lily’s hand. “A pleasure.”

"Rena's a pretty good blacksmith," Orsem explained. "Sophie's great with mana, and Lily's got more powerful ice mana than even I do!”

"Oh, I see," said Norwin. He didn’t know exactly what those skills were needed for, but he was nonetheless impressed. "Um, once again, a pleasure to meet you all."

Norwin nodded. The girls smiled and Lily giggled for just a moment.

“Alright,” Orsem continued. He was clearly excited. “We can TOTALLY do it today! Oh, Norwin, you can take a seat and watch!”

“Sure,” Norwin replied. He nodded to everybody else and walked to the table to grab a seat. Orsem and the three girls made their way to the box Norwin had noticed earlier. He watched Orsem pull out a pair of oversized blades from it before checking out the table. Upon it were 5 cups with a teapot in the middle, not to mention the plate stacked elegantly with various pastries.

_ Five cups makes sense, _ Norwin thought. Even Orsem hadn’t been expecting him to tag along until it was too late. Seemed like Norwin wouldn’t be getting any tea, but that was fine.

Actually, Norwin noticed something off. He looked around the table and only saw  _ four _ chairs. Confused, he looked around, and noticed Apollo’s huge stature towering over him.

_...Ah. _

“It’s good to see you again, Norwin.”

Norwin scratched the back of his neck. “It’s good to see you as well.” Despite his conflicting feelings regarding Orsem and Apollo, he was happy to see a familiar face among the new crowd he had been introduced to.

The two then turned their attention to the others. Orsem was talking about  _ something _ , but the group was just too far out of earshot for Norwin to make out their conversation. He and Apollo watched for a while in silence, but Norwin had no clue what was happening. All he saw was Orsem and Lily handling one of the blades while Sophie took notes.

“Say, Apollo,” he started. “Do you happen to know what it is they’re doing over there?”

“Ah, Orsem must not have informed you. They’re creating skates that I will be able to use. Orsem and Lily are transferring their ice mana into that pair as we speak.”

Norwin looked up to Apollo. “Are Orsem’s normal pairs not sufficient enough?”

Apollo let out a small chuckle. “Well, if you weren’t aware…”

Apollo casually laid a finger on Norwin’s shoulder and let it stay there for just a second. That spot became uncomfortably hot, causing Norwin to instinctively pull himself away.

“Unfortunately, due to my large amounts of fire mana, I just melt any normal pair of skates. So the four of them are working on imbuing a large enough amount of mana into them that they can work for me. Not to mention I require a special, bigger pair regardless.”

“Fascinating...” Norwin then looked back down to the table and pointed towards the many items strewn about it. “So what’s all this?”

“They’re quite confident that they’ll be able finish this task today. As such, I had asked Vice and Cleo to prepare a tea party for us.”

“Ah. This must be the celebration Orsem was referring to.”

Norwin then turned his attention back to the others; however, it was as it was before. He could hardly make out what was happening. As such, he decided he would fixate his gaze on Orsem for a while.

After a few more minutes, the group seemed to be all finished. “Okay!” Lily exclaimed. Then, she and Orsem walked up to Apollo and eagerly presented a brand new pair to him.

“Here ya go! Let’s hope this works,” said Orsem with a smile.

Apollo grabbed the blades and held them in his hand for a moment. At first glance, they seemed to be fine. Unfortunately, though, Apollo could feel his hands getting ever-so-slightly wet. He smiled and returned them to Orsem. “You’ll need just a touch more. You’re close!”

“Aw. Well, okay. Let’s try again, Lily!”

“Yeah!”

Orsem and Lily returned to Sophie and Rena and grabbed a new pair to work with. As they got back to work, Norwin was once again lost.

“So Norwin,” Apollo said to catch Norwin’s attention. “Have you been well?”

“Hm…” Unfortunately, the honest answer was ‘No,’ but Norwin couldn’t admit that. “Yes. I’ve been doing fine.” He weakly smiled. “Thank you.”

“Of course. You and Orsem had your third lesson earlier today, correct?”

“Yes. We did, in fact.”

“I’m glad you seem to be enjoying it. Orsem is always eager to teach new friends the ropes, but only a few actually stick to it.”

“Oh, really? Hmm.” Norwin thought to himself for a moment. In all honesty, he couldn’t tell whether he genuinely enjoyed skating or only used it as an excuse to see Orsem.

“Regardless, Orsem is quite fond of you. I’m happy the two of you have become fast friends.”

“Do you really think so?” Deep down, some part of Norwin was excited to hear that. He tilted his head back and said, “Well, I’m certainly glad, too.” Both Norwin and Apollo smiled. They chatted some more about the halidom until Orsem and Lily returned, offering another new pair to Apollo.

“Here you go!” said Lily.

“Should definitely be enough this time!” exclaimed Orsem.

Apollo humbly took the blades and held them in his hand for some time. This time, they didn’t melt at all. He grinned. “That’s promising.”

Norwin remained seated while Rena and Sophie moved to join everyone.

“Let’s hope we didn’t put too much in this time,” Sophie mused as Apollo began to put them on his feet.

_ But wait _ , Norwin thought.  _ How’s he gonna get those on his bare feet? _ He looked down and noticed that Apollo was wearing boots now. Guess that explains that…

In any case, Apollo fixed the blades to the bottom of his boots and started to get a feel for balancing with them. It looked as though his balance was immaculate, but from his side angle Norwin could tell Apollo’s long tail was doing all the work.

After a while, it was clear everybody had finally succeeded. Apollo didn’t melt these blades, and the blades didn’t freeze him. Finally, after several meetings, Orsem and Lily had struck the perfect balance. Norwin watched from the sidelines as everybody celebrated for a moment, high-fiving and hollering. Soon, everybody made for the table. Remembering that there were only four chairs, Norwin quickly stood to be sure he wasn’t stealing a spot from anybody.

“Norwin,” said Orsem. “You can sit back down! I’ll just stand.”

“Oh, no need for that. I’ve been sitting plenty. You can go ahead.”

“Hm. Well, if you insist!” With that, Orsem happily sat down. Norwin was left to awkwardly stand next to Apollo, who was still taller than Norwin despite sitting on the ground.

The rest of the group casually began to indulge in their tea and snacks while making chit chat. Norwin felt completely left out and was hardly paying attention to the conversation. Eventually, Orsem realized that Norwin didn’t even have a cup.

“Hey, Norwin,” he said, snapping him back into focus. “Want my cup? You’re missing out on this tea!”

“Oh. No, it’s fine. No worries."

“Aw, ya sure? I can just share with Apollo!”

Norwin paused for a moment, his gaze not meeting Orsem’s. He forced a smile. “Okay then,” he stammered. “Sure.”

For some time, Norwin partook in the tea and snacks without contributing to the group’s conversations. Occasionally he would be asked a random question by one of the girls, but most of all he felt he would be better off not having shown up. He hardly had any reason to be there. For the most part he simply watched as his friends and new aquaintances enjoyed themselves. He also found it quite amusing to see Apollo’s oversized hands struggling to wield his tiny tea cup.

Eventually, Orsem dragged Apollo off to go skating and Norwin took his seat. For several minutes he watched his friends skate around, noting the juxtaposition of Orsem’s comparatively tiny figure guiding Apollo through the ropes, until eventually he was interrupted by the girls behind him.

“Say, Norwin?”

Norwin turned. Rena, Sophie, and Lily were looking at him, smiling. Lily spoke.

“Tell us about yourself! I wanna know about you!”

“Oh, well…” Norwin looked to Rena and Sophie who smiled, prodding him on. “If you insist. I’m actually an author. Sometimes I create picture books for children.”

“Oh, that’s so cool!” Lily smiled. “Hey, you should read us one!”

“Hm. I mean…”

Norwin looked to Rena and Sophie who were both smiling and laughing.

“Yes,” said Rena. “That sounds lovely.”

“Yeah, Norwin! I think I heard about you when you showed up,” Sophie explained. “I’d love to hear you read if you have time!”

“Huh.” Norwin scratched the back of his head and clumsily smiled. “Well, in that case, I’ll have to go all the way back to my room to grab one. Do you mind waiting?”

“Go get it!” Lily ordered.

“Yes. We’ll be waiting,” assured Rena.

“Alright then. Be back soon.”

Norwin was beyond excited about the genuine interest in his stories. He returned to his quarters to grab a book, smiling the whole way.

Despite his insistence on making everybody wait, he returned only a few minutes later. “Alright,” he said. He showed off the book to everybody and sat back down. “I’m just going to warn you in advance. I don’t believe you’ll like the ending…”

“Oh, I’m sure it’s fine,” said Rena.

“Yeah! Go ahead!” Lily urged.

“Well, if you insist. I wrote this one a few years ago. It’s about a young boy named Athamas who is brought in and raised by a great dragon, Penthus.”

Norwin opened his book and began relaying his tale to his listeners. He thought little of himself, but even he could not deny his storytelling talent. He used his voice as well his body to convey the emotions of the story, and all three of his audience members were completely drawn in. The story was a simply-written children’s tale, and so he was almost finished reading before long.

"After many years, the now-grown Athamas longed to explore the outside world. Penthus was reluctant, but eventually gave in and granted his wish. After all, he felt he had taught his adopted son a great deal. They walked outside and Penthus saw him off. He proudly watched as Athamas went on his way, but that pride turned to horror as the boy was soon attacked by fiends. Penthus rushed to his side, but alas, it all happened so quick that he was too late. The great dragon wept, for he had failed to teach his beloved son how to survive even a short few minutes on his own. The end."

Norwin closed the book and proudly looked up to his audience. The looks on their faces brought him back down to reality.

“Th-That’s no fair!” Lily wept. “They totally didn’t deserve that!”

“I suppose he didn’t warn us about the ending…” Sophie mused.

Lily and Sophie wore distraught faces; however, Rena was simply smiling.

“That was a very nice story,” she said. “Very well-written, too. Norwin, you’ve got quite a talent.”

Norwin wasn’t expecting such a strange compliment. “Uh, thanks. I appreciate that.” He turned to Sophie and Lily. “Yeah, my apologies for that. I...only ever write sad endings.”

Lily made eye contact with Norwin, pouting. “You should write a happy one! All that stuff is no fair,” she repeated.

“You’re right,” Norwin sighed. “I’d certainly like to.”

They chatted some more about Norwin’s story, but eventually, it was time to go. It was getting dark outside. Norwin stood up, but then noticed something.

“Hey,” he stammered. “What exactly should we do about this table?”

The girls looked at each other and shrugged.

“I suppose Apollo will take care of it,” Rena replied.

“Yes, indeed,” Norwin cautiously agreed. “Well, I must be off then. Have a good night, everyone.”

Everyone waved and said goodbye as Norwin left. For a moment, he was happy to have made new friends. Then, a second later, he turned and saw Orsem pushing Apollo around on the ice. That smile turned to a frown, and the fact that it became a frown made him even more upset. As he walked home, he cycled further and further into his familiar dark thoughts.

When he was finally back, Norwin set his book on the desk and glanced at the scattered manuscript strewn about his desk. Orsem’s story.

He thought about what Lily asked of him:  _ You should write a happy one! _

What was it he had planned for Orsem, again? Before he met the guy, he must have had something in mind even if it was just a rough idea. Suddenly, those ideas came back to him.

_ As he crossed through the dangerous forest, Orsem was kidnapped and dragged off. Apparently, his assailants had been keeping their eyes on him for weeks. Before long, the hopeful dreamer was sold off into slavery. His magical ability to turn things—even people—to ice was worth a fortune, apparently. He spent the rest of his days in servitude, often forced to permanently freeze his unruly fellow slaves under threat of death. The end. _

...Norwin wept. Why did Orsem, of all his characters, have to suffer so much? At least most of the others just died, and that was that. But he was prepared to give Orsem a fate so much worse. Wait, what if this wasn’t a coincidence? Couldn’t... _ all _ of his stories have been real? Perhaps all of the tragedies he wrote came to fruition, and he just didn’t know it. And if that were true, then if Norwin wrote that ending…

Lily was right. Norwin had to start writing happy endings. And yet, he couldn’t. It wasn’t as if Norwin wanted to write these tragedies; it was simply all he could do to rid himself of those terrible thoughts. His home, which was attacked so many years ago, came to his mind every time he tried. And, of course, that very thought crept into his mind now and began to overwhelm him. His body convulsed and he lost his balance before catching himself on the wall. Full of terrible thoughts, Norwin had no choice but to retire to sleep.


End file.
